A Couple of Scrimmage Reports and Must-Reads…

Final scores don’t matter as much as what you see happening on the court in these games. The kids are excited to simply be playing a team with another colored jersey. The games are generally sloppy, as defense is ahead of offense simply because defense is effort-driven and offense is rhythm-driven.

Hofstra took down Northwood 87-77 in a game notable for the coaches. Tom Pecora was an assistant under Northwood head coach Rollie Massamino. You may have heard of that guy.

Notable: Hofstra freshman Charles Jenkins looked solid: 17 points on 7-12 shooting. That is heap-big because the Pride need to replace scoring. Second most important item is that Playstation Johnson was very comfortable running the show. He netted nine points, seven rebounds, six assists, and five steals. Finally, Arminas Urbutis had 11 points and seven rebounds and appears to be a quietly effective presence in the post.

VCU slipped by Virginia State 60-47 in a game nobody would describe as pretty. The Rams were led by Jamal Shuler’s 17 points, but it was the performance of freshman big man Larry Sanders that stole the show. Sanders filled the stat sheet with 9 points, seven rebounds, four blocks, and two assists. He altered at least three other shots. Significantly, for a freshman he looked like he knew what he was doing out there. VCU didn’t have a player like Sanders last year (6’9″ and a huge wingspan to protect the basket). Wil Fameni didn’t play with a bum ankle that Grant described as a minor issue. They held him out for no other reason than it was the smart thing to do.

Oh, and Agudio and Maynor were Agudio and Maynor. No need to talk about them this early.

Among my favorites: Kyle had two book offers, both of which he turned down; that he was the first to latch onto George Mason two seasons ago; and that truck stop WiFi is the most dependable on the road.

Also, this amazingly intelligent observation: “Blogs like ours offer such an incredible opportunity to offer readers around the world something that wasn’t available when the Valley and Gonzaga played in the dark: the feeling of what it’s like at and inside a real live college basketball game, instead of the detached ‘let’s see what’s going on in the ant farm’ approach that the national media tends to specialize in.”